Peterson University Flake

A friend was kind enough to provide me with some flakes of this (a couple of years ago, so you might want to take my review with a grain of salt). I never made any coherrent notes of it while smoking it, but I was told this was about the best flake you could possibly put in your pipe, and all other Peterson's I've tried (before and since) have been very good, so I was pretty excited to try it. But somehow it failed to impress me very much. I was looking forward to have my head spinning from the strength and "excessive" nicotine content. But that never happened. In fact it was more mild and dull than strong. Not unpleasant, as I recall, just unremarkable. I might give it another shot some time (if nothing else than to provide a more fair review, and/or add a tin to collection), but I won't be in any particular rush to hunt down a tin.

New style tin...aroma was similar to Irish Flake with a slight fruity note. The aroma was akin to plums/prunes, or berries, or maybe jelly donuts??? I dried out a small amount very well & rubbed it into a shag-like consistancy before stuffing me wee Peterson #317, which I've consigned to the stronger blends. The smoking taste is similar to the tin aroma...slightly sweet & fruity. Initially, it was very mild & tongue/palate discomfort was minimal. Can't say much about the room note because my wife ran me outside before I had a chance to offer a viable assessment on that. Women who don't smoke pipes are like that!

I gave Irish Flake a four star rating for having good burning characteristics, smoothness, taste & N factor, but this one was a bit lacking for me. This blend didn't start out too bad, but it became tasteless & harsh during the second half of the bowl. I shan't be purchasing another tin because there are many tastier & cheaper blends available. I gave this blend ample opportunity to become likable, but it just wouldn't happen. If you like a mild, VABUR pipe tobacco with a feint, fruity room note (just enough to moderately mask the tobacco odor) that burns pretty cool & taste fairly good, then UF is for you! Therefore, IMHO, UF merits between 2 & 2 1/2 **s!

I would prefer a tobacco with much more refined smoke. This is too harsh for me. It is hard to be rubbed and packed. Hard to keep lit. Not for the beginners. Instead of this, at almost the same price, there are many other pleasent virginia mixtures to enjoy.

Appearance: Small flakes, well made with uniform medium thickness. Quite variegated in color with the entire range well distributed.

Aroma: First impression is fruity. Definite aroma of berries. While I love this in a Cabernet, I find it off-putting in a tobacco. There is some Virginia aroma lurking under the fruit, but it is not dominant.

Packing:. Usual methods work fairly well. Either rubbing out the flakes, or folding and rolling work well in normal to larger bowls. Did not try this in any smaller pipes.

Lighting:. Lighting is about average, takes flame well.

Initial flavor: The berries were the first thing to hit my palate, with some Virginia and Burley coming through a short time later. The tobacco flavor was not as strong as the flavoring.

Mid-bowl:. The fruit topping has diminished some, but the tobacco flavor did not develop well for me. In all, a rather boring experience.

Finish:. Burned fairly well to the bottom of the pipe. Did not get much stronger at the end

Summary:. Maybe a good choice for the smoker who likes a flavored Virginia, or an aromatic smoker looking for an entry level Va. For the experienced VA. smoker, not much to recommend it.

Pouch Aroma: This is a sweet-smelling blend, but not 'light and fruity' like a typical aromatic - it's darkly sweet in the way that molasses and caramel are. I can't nail down a precise flavor, but it's definately got a heavy taste without being candied

Appearance: I couldn't help but give a little sigh when I opened the envelope from Alan and saw what he had sent. I like Latakia blends, but there are so many other good tobaccos that it's nice to try something different. This one is a thick flake of dark brown to black tobacco with lighter yellowish stems and ribs visible.

Packing and Lighting: I took pieces of flakes and rubbed them out in my hand since I'm smoking this at the computer in an old straight meerschaum, canted dublin in shape. This is a very neutral pipe and it has never had Latakia in it. It both packed and lit quite easily with a blast of intensely sweet tobacco flavor.

Exposition: After the first few puffs the sweetness has subsided to become the base for some fairly unidimensional tobacco taste. It has a nice sharp edge when blown out of the nose, but on my tongue I get sort of a burley sensation...maybe a stoved burley? It's not ashy like the cheap stuff, nor does it make my throat tingle....

This is a very slow-burning tobacco that doesn't seem to want to bite me. Yet. =;>

The Story: As I move headlong into the first third of the bowl I find the sweetness actually gaining some dimension and complexity from the base tobaccos and vice versa. The sharp mouth-feel is still present, as is the burley taste; an ever-so-slight ashiness is noticeable, but as a pleasant counterpoint to the caramelly sweetness. My daughter has announced that this tobacco 'smells really good, Dad'. The smoke volume is quite nice, allowing me to blow thick blue-grey rings of prodigious size.

After a re-light I just noticed a strong sour taste that I don't care for...it doesn't last for long, but a slight remnant is left in the flavor and the sweetness is being overborne by it. It took a good five minutes for it to fade completely, but the sweet character has turned musty now. It's still good, and has a very full flavor, but I rather miss the molasses taste. I am also noticing the nicotine quite a bit, now...not as strongly as with St. Bruno, but at about the level of Dunhill's 'Elizabethan'. Nice 🙂

Right now, it's almost like I'm smoking a different tobacco than I was when I started: what started out as a dark, sweet smoke with a slightly ashy undertone has mutated into a medium-strength natural tasting tobacco with a musty, musky character and a subdued but natural tobacco aroma. It rather reminds me of a Tangerine Dream song from the 70's, but don't ask me why...must be the steady change from accessible and sweet to something heavier and more demanding. Yes, that's a good thing...

Denoument: After letting the pipe rest for 15 minutes or so, I re-light for the home stretch. This bowl is conical, so the flavor has become quite intense. The interesting thing is the way that the sweetness has subtly crept back in; the tail-end of the bowl has become rather more pleasant than the middle third! There is ample complexity, nicotine and body, the ashy taste is gone and the caramel flavor is tickling my palate quite nicely. Overall, a very satisfying smoke - and I'll try it in a different pipe to see if the negative aspects are still noticeable.

Pros: This is an interesting smoke with great evolution of flavor from the first light to the last puff. It smoked quite dry and clean and left an pleasant aroma in the room that lingered about me (in my hair and skin) for several hours afterward. It also burned steadily and evenly down the center of the bowl - I'd like to try this unrubbed in an outdoor pipe, but the weather is WAY too nasty for that right now.

Cons: The one thing I really didn't like about this was the flavor on re-lights. It became sour and had an ammonia flavor that took a little while to dissipate, but each time it did, the flavor was different once the sourness had disappeared. It was rather like a magician pulling a hat out of a rabbit - unsettling, but interesting nonetheless. Also, re-lights became quite difficult toward the end, requiring much stirring and tamping.

Fairly robust. A little spicy, sip slowly. I rubbed mine out, straight from the tin. First half of the bowl is more Virginia up front, after a tamp and a few minutes of settling, the bottom half of the bowl is earthy, bready burley with Virginia on top of that. Top note remains in the second half and seems to find its place. Reminds me of blueberry bagels with orange juice. Nicotine is moderate to moderately high for me. Seems one dimensional and then gets three dimensional, then flattens out again, then repeats. Enjoyable, interesting, fairly unique in my journey thus far. I can say one thing that I enjoy is that both tobaccos are plainly recognizable and they are complimentary and balanced.

This one was quite interesting, the aroma from the tin is very different to the aroma from the pipe... subtle prune sweetness pops up but I find it to give of a prominent peaty (smokey) flavour similar to Speyside whiskys Hardly any flavour of berry... Perhaps since I was expecting a sweet prominent berry flavour like mulberry or blueberry, however I do pick up a whiff of black currant seldomly. I can't help but think to myself that this is the perfect flavour for a late winter's evening around a fireplace chatting to an old friend with a dram of whisky to compliment

Ultra mild berry aromatic Virginia/Burley flake for those who would prefer to amuse the nostrils of bystanders rather than their own taste buds.

The tin aroma in a newly opened tin is almost purely the smell of the berry syrup used as a topping. After its been open several weeks (it's taking me a long time to get through it!) this has faded just a little and now I can also detect some hay/grass notes from the leaf.

The flakes are perfectly cut and neatly stacked, I cannot fault the presentation. They are also soaking wet from the casing applied. Rubbed out and smoked in this state its a sad affair requiring numerous matches, more or less like steaming your tongue over a boiling kettle, with no tobacco flavour and only an aftertaste of humectants and the aforementioned berry flavouring. With extensive drying on a sheet of paper it is slightly better, but the tobacco flavour is minimal. It must be smoked gently and can yield an ultra mild Virginia flavour remiscent of new mown hay before the flavouring takes over. The berry flavour does come through in the smoke, and builds through the bowl only receding near the end. Obviously I find it hard to smoke something gently when I have to look for the smoke to check it's still lit... It appears to contain almost no nicotine, and if it ghosts my falcon bowls I might cry.

In the interests of full disclosure I should declare my tastes, which are for hearty dark flakes and plugs (scented or otherwise) and English mixtures. I love Erinmore flake! I do not enjoy the heavily cased Cavendish aromatics that are so popular on the Continent, and honestly when this is smoked wet out of the tin, I would think this was one of them if I hadn't rubbed the flake out myself.

Comparison with Erinmore is inevitable: two flakes with a heavily applied fruity topping. Erinmore flake has a richer, stronger Virginia tobacco which to my mind stands up to and is complemented by the sauce, University flake has an ultra mild Virginia and Burley leaf which is overwhelmed by a (to my tastes) discordant berry casing.

I'll give it two stars because it has no gross defects apart from wetness (easily cured by drying) and it clearly brings pleasure to many on here. If dried well and smoked gently there is little bite, it doesn't overheat and burns to a clod of dottle. I would buy this in preference to a Dutch or Danish aromatic Cavendish, but given that my choice will probably never come to this, I doubt I'll ever buy it again.

In summary, University flake is one for the undergraduate rather than the Don. It may appeal to those of a nervous disposition, or to the smoker of Cavendish aromatics who is looking for a slightly more sophisticated product. This is a small step up from the cherry vanilla propylene glycol abominations foisted on all new pipe smokers by well intentioned tobacconists throughout the land...

I must have an odd tin of University Flake because the wording on mine states, “Based on Virginia grades. In addition mahogany, brown and orange Virginias are mixed with leaves from India”. Can someone comment on this anamoly please? Also there is no indication of a date.